Diggers blow away Railways

NORTHERN Brothers Diggers remain the only undefeated team in the TCI A grade one-day competition after beating Railways by six wickets at Rockville Park on Saturday.

Diggers restricted Railways to 9-126 from its 40 overs before Derek Nitschke and Blake Anderson controlled the run chase to come up with a six-wicket win.

Victory over Souths this Saturday will now wrap up a place in the December 18 one-day final for Diggers.

But while happy having beaten dangerous side Railways, Diggers captain Josh Barrett knows the job is not done yet.

“We've got a couple of wins on the trot now. Just to keep Railways to 130 and to chase it all was a good performance,” Barrett said.

“It gives us plenty of confidence now but we're not getting too far ahead of ourselves.”

The Railways' top order failed to fire as none of its top seven batsmen reached double figures with new-ball pairing Aaron Watson (4-39) and Brad Suhr (3-26) doing the damage for Diggers.

Star all-rounder Mick Miller came in at number eight and top scored with 46 and was supported by number nine Nathan Case (29 not out).

The pair lifted Railways to 9-126 from its 40 overs but it didn't prove enough.

Diggers went out with the plan to give Miller easy singles to get him off strike in a smart tactic.

The Diggers' run chase got off to a shaky start, losing four wickets cheaply before Nitschke and Anderson took control of the game.

This partnership couldn't be broken as Nitschke and Anderson brought up the winning runs in the 33rd over with six wickets in hand.

Anderson top scored with an unbeaten 51 while Nitschke accumulated 41no.

“It was a very good win for us,” Barrett said. “To bowl them out for 120-odd was good and Derek Nitschke and Blake Anderson put on a good partnership to get us over the line.”

Barrett was confident his side could reel in the Railways' total and thought the Rockville Park pitch was conducive to batting as much as it was to bowling, which makes Diggers' efforts in restricting Railways to 9-126 even more impressive.

“There was a little bit of seam and movement in it early but Rockville is always a good batting pitch,” he said.